Archetype 3D

Craig Martin - President - Archetype 3D

I’ve been making models of buildings for a long time but had little experience in moving into actual new construction until now. Moving into a building that doesn’t yet exist has distinct advantages, the most obvious being that we were able to design our space to be a model shop instead of modifying an existing space. Although I got a full set of plans from the architect, electrician, engineer, and lighting consultant, this place is still full of surprises. One of these surprises is a series of small mysterious buttons placed on several walls in key locations. The electrician explained that they are to turn the lights back on after the timer shuts them off. I come to find out that the city of Louisville, Colorado, in an attempt to be green, plays the role of the Dad who yells at his kids “Don’t leave the lights on. What, do you think, that I am made of non-renewable energy?” The timer is programmed to shut off the lights after all employees leave the building. The guys who thought this up obviously never worked in a model shop. Employees have been known to work at all hours and even though I do my best to keep my people on a regular schedule, things come up that require late night model making. The electrician explained that if people are working late and the lights go out you just hit one of these mysterious buttons and you will get a couple of more hours of light. “Great” I said. “Does the timer also cut the power to the table saw, band saw and joiner?” “No”. “Huh, so I am risking cutting off a finger in the middle of the night because the lights go out while we are working?”

We never set the timer. This means I have the difficult task of telling my employees “would the last person out of the building please turn out the lights?” I know it is a huge task and honestly not every employee I have ever hired is up for the responsibility. But I don’t allow power tool use unless there is more than one person in the shop. Hopefully one of them would have the sense to turn off the lights before locking up. If they don’t? Oh well, that at least is an acceptable risk.